


Unconventional

by OpalEyes2112



Series: Tales From The Vivarium [2]
Category: Twilight Zone, Vivarium (Movie 2019)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Technology, Aliens, Bittersweet Ending, Comedy, Enemies to Friends, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied Minor Character Deaths, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Non-Binary OC, Pandemics, Real Estate problems, Technologically advanced pranks, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26488678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpalEyes2112/pseuds/OpalEyes2112
Summary: The Boy goes out for his first real-world trip with Martin to experience the human world. Along the way he comes across an old friend of Martin's and his own trainee named Laoh.A couple months later, upon becoming the new Martin he reunites with Laoh over a dinner which sparks their rivalry over humanity and real estate.
Relationships: Martin & Original Male Character, Original Male Character & Original Charcter, The Boy & Original Character
Series: Tales From The Vivarium [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901881
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. To Yonder Into The World

**Author's Note:**

> A combination of the classic Twilight Zone seasons and Vivarium. This is unbeta'd so if there's any mistakes please let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcome!

It began the same as any other day, which wasn’t a surprise since this particular neighborhood barely changed. He knew it was designed to be that way and it drove his parents “up a wall” as they’d once put it, but today was…going to be important. The Boy ate his breakfast more slowly than he usually would. He was willing to take his time so that Gemma could get her shoes tied.

It was their new game. She wouldn’t play pretend with him after she’d asked him to emulate the leader he’d met that day. It had…overwhelmed Mother among other things. This new game seemed to give her a strength that she’d probably otherwise lack.

_She’s the curious one, the smart one between the two._

The Boy rose from the table and cleaned the kitchen before heading to their daily gathering. As he closed the door he glanced out of the corner of his eye to find Gemma watching him like he supposed a dog would its prey.

Hiding a smile, the Boy strode out of their section of the Vivarium and into another. A part of him wanted to give her a clue, a real one as to their predicament, but the leader had expressly forbidden it. They seemed destined to fail, but since there was a sliver of a chance, they could still pass the Boy was highly restricted in how much he could enlighten them.

Lifting a section of the pavement he briskly strode down the stairs that were already in place and welcoming to today’s round of lectures. As he continued down a hallway that would’ve seemed endless to a human, he was joined by three other boys. They looked like him albeit in earlier stages of development. Silently they went to the Centre where their leader waited to give them their daily assignments.

47 minutes later the Boy stood outside of Yonder’s local branch office waiting when Martin poked his head out the door with a flawless 1950s salesman’s smile.

“Welcome!” His elder beamed showing off the proper white smiles they all had as he held the door open for the younger one. “Busy week for us, eh?”

“I would hope so.” The office was a bit of a disappointment, but the enormity of the job made up for it. The task that came with the name was both frightening and elating in its difficulty.

“Glad to hear it! Looking forward to seeing Leeds?”

“Pardon?”

Martin’s smile shimmered into nonexistence like a mirage. The elder cocked his head as he studied his potential replacement with narrowed eyes.

“Management didn’t tell you?” If Martin was surprised there wasn’t any sign apart from the question that slipped out of his mouth like water from a faucet. “We’re attending a real estate conference in Leeds today. It’ll be a two-day affair.”

_Two days?_ It occurred to the Boy then that this was going to be what humans commonly referred to as a “pop quiz”. _Or more accurately, a pop exam. For my parents to see how they’ll act and then for me-it’ll be to see if I can pass as human._

The Boy felt Martin’s sky-blue eyes analysing every single one of his bodily motions to the news and seemingly satisfied his facial motions turned on the smile again.

“Let me grab my keys and then we’ll be off.”

Martin went to the desk to pluck the keys before walking out the door gesturing for his new apprentice to follow him.

The elder took the drivers side while the Boy slipped into the passenger seat. Soon as they were buckled in Martin stepped on the gas heading east. It was…new. The adolescent stared out the window with part fascination and part…disappointment. He’d read the books about humanity’s Earth, but actually seeing it…truly struck home the differences between their two worlds.

Ten minutes into the drive he noticed the real estate agent’s fingers tapping out a particular rhythm on the wheel and the scenery around them abruptly transformed into an urban rush.

“Welcome to Leeds!” Martin proclaimed with a picturesque wave of a hand and accessory smile. “First impressions?”

“Lively?” The Boy replied after pressing his lips into a thin line. He tried to make as many deductions as possible from the seething mass of cars all around them. “It’s chaotic. A diverse metropolitan area with a population close to…one million or two?”

Martin nodded as he took a right turn then a left. “Close to two million, though the city proper is not quite one million.”

Silence pervaded the cubic car while they turned right again, and the swarming mass of vehicles dwindled away. With the loss the Boy could make out the humans skedaddling towards whatever destination they had in mind and the highly stylized storefront signs.

Another turn and his perspective was suddenly filled with concrete pillars, somewhat orderly rows of vehicles, and signs with English letters. Slowly, they descended another level where they found a perfect parking spot.

Putting the car into park Martin turned to the Boy with his irises looking like glowing needles in the dim lighting.

“Ready?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The hotel lobby was packed with scores of humans in a diverse array of outfits milling about. Some were checking into their rooms like Martin was and others were engaged in forms of communication. Never before had he realized the importance the humans placed on conversation; there was a massive group of businesspeople debating something with carefully crafted devotion, in a corner two humans in black uniforms whispered to each other, and in the opposite corner an adolescent was “over the Moon” about a… _is that a dog?!_

The Boy barely got two paces in before Martin was placing a magnetic card in his hand.

“Room key for sleep or you feel yourself faltering,” his elder explained as he guided his potential successor towards a branching hallway. It was like entering another world.

The Boy had a new appreciation for the word “packed” when in the context of social situations. Quickly he learned that there 17 rooms in the conference centre and more than two dozen tables laid out with whatever the people who sat at them promoted. Yet it barely seemed enough to occupy the thousands of people present.

And they were all dressed differently! Females in outfits more colourful than any fruit bowl he’d seen, men in attire ranging from smart casual to bespoke business suits, and androgynous humans walking in platform shoes.

For a moment, the Boy fretted over whether he should’ve found something less identical to his mentor’s attire and only felt his pulse ease when he remembered they were from the same company and coordination was expected.

_Calm down, you’re a trainee and Martin’s the full-fledged salesman._

The Boy was grateful that his mentor was allowing him a couple minutes to adjust and work on keeping his human façade presentable. Sensing the younger one was relaxed Martin decided to divulge some details.

“For these two days you’ll go by Ceri Ross, a grand nephew of the founder of Yonder Real Estate, and I’m your uncle Martin Ross. “ His alias barely came as a surprise; humans were known to have a strange reverence for family owned businesses and he did need a name. What surprised him more was his elder asking him to address him as a human would their uncle. He didn’t even know if he had any real uncles, let alone interacted with them and thus the decision felt… _odd._

“Uncle Ross.” The new Ceri tested the phrase out until he got a nod of approval from Martin. Together, they turned to a table making small talk with the people monitoring the decreasing height of their stack of pamphlets.

It was easy-at first. Remembering when and how to stretch his lips into a smile so it didn’t appear sarcastic or as a grimace. Saying the polite phrases and queries. Then they moved to another table where the humans analysed him and shot questions at him like an invading army. Where did he grow up? Where did he go to school? Had he ever considered working in a different profession-or dare say, another real estate company? How were his parents doing? His grandparents? Which one started the Yonder Real Estate Co.?

The Boy thought he was doing well based on the knife sharp smiles of the humans and his elder’s easy-going manner, but he slipped up. When the pair started interrogating him about his parents “Ceri” felt his lips started to droop and by the time they got to his grandparents he _knew_ his smile was brittle.

Martin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, noted the strain that was now making its presence known in the rest of his student’s body, but didn’t bother steering the humans’ attention towards himself.

Halfway through another series of questions later the Boy noticed his mentor’s eyes catch on something-or someone-approaching them and within five seconds the humans’ speech faltered as they craned their necks to look at whoever was standing behind him.

“Jesus Holly…and Colin!” The person boomed over him in a silky, albeit highly annoyed, voice before planting two massive hands on his shoulders. “Leave the poor boy alone! My god if I didn’t know better I would’ve thought you were the Spanish Inquisition interrogating an accused witch!”

Holly and Colin scowled at the towering being who promptly led/dragged the pretend Ceri Ross to the least crowded spot available then let the adolescent go like Gemma would set down a plate of food.

Twirling around to face the figure the Boy noticed his elder greeting the stranger with a genuinely warm _expression_ and halted the scream that’d been building up in his throat. Martin was… _friends_ with this auburn-haired man who’d rebuked the far-too-inquisitive humans to rescue the Boy. The enormity of what had happened and still happening in front took a moment to sink in. Even afterwards, he stood silent gawking at the two conversing in cordial tones until Martin gestured for him to move closer so he could be properly introduced.

“Victor, this is Martin. Martin, this is Victor.” Then the tall man’s eyes met his and the Boy felt his jaw drop. “Victor here is a Venusian agent. He was sent here back in the Fifties to study humans.”

The sensation that broke loose and spilled throughout his chest was alien to him, and yet he somehow knew what it was. From his experiences with Gemma and Tom. World turned upside down.

While the humans had been bumbling away with nuclear energy, the space race, and the Cold War the Boy’s species had been in a Cold War of their own. His species and their ally on one side and the Venusians on the other. Three different species united in their common desire: Earth including its inhabitants.

“He fought against us and our ally!” The Boy hissed at his mentor through gritted teeth, but the display didn’t move his elder. Well…at least not in the direction he’d thought it would go.

Martin’s responding heavy sigh astonished him until the real estate agent clarified.

“Victor’s greatest grievance against us _or_ our allies was getting here before they did.” The elder eyes then swooped up as he raised a hand to rest his chin on it. “Well that and buying fifteen acres back in 1968.”

“Fourteen acres!” Victor corrected the agent with a groan that might’ve been fake. “Any how ummm…do you have a name?”

_A name?_ The Boy knew the Venusian was asking if he had a real name-one given to him by his parents or whatever equivalent the Venusians had in their empire. He wondered how his answer would go.

“I don’t have one. However, my alias during this conference is Ceri Ross.”

The Venusian representative merely a raised a brow. “Well…I think you look more like a…Billy, Bob, nah I’m just kidding with you. Mind if I just call you…oh let’s see…Earl?”

_Where did you get that name from?_

“It’s a good choice.”

“Hehe hmm.” Victor flashed him a snarky smile, before it was replaced with a calmer one. “Well, Martin I’ve a trainee of my own I would like you and your student to meet…Laoh? Laoh?”

The tall Venusian turned to look behind him, but who he’d expected to find wasn’t there. His brass-coloured eyes widened then frantically searched the hallways and the faces that were milling about. Abruptly, he halted his quest, placing a hand over his eyes as he heaved a sigh while unleashing a series of curses in a language unknown to the Boy.

Finally, after a full of minute of drawing questioning looks from them and passerbys, Victor slightly crouched to whisper something in Martin’s ear before turning to the trainee.

“ _Ceri_ Ross _”_ The Boy didn’t know what was more worrying the smile on Martin’s face or the indecipherable glint in the Venusian agent’s eyes. “Why don’t you go looking for…Laoh on your own? Good practice for when I pass over the reins.”

While the Boy once again put on the mask of the human Ceri Ross he noticed Victor’s brows knitted together as he gazed at Yonder’s representative who was focused on his potential successor. Those band instrument eyes suddenly seemed like tunnels stretching into an impossibly deep past.

Ceri Ross nodded to Martin before turning away to leave the two alone and go in search of an apparently confused or, even more likely, absentminded Venusian protégé.


	2. A Canine Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Boy gets sidetracked in his search for the rebellious Venusian by a fluffy quadruped.

After successfully dodging meandering groups of people the Boy slipped into the first room on the right where he was greeted by several glares.

“Hey! You!” A middle-aged man growled while the lady beside him raised a haughty brow. “What the hell do you think you’re doing busting in late? Presentation started ten minutes ago!”

“Sorry!” The Boy wanted to find an excuse, but the increasing number of knife sharp glares pointed in his direction made him fumble. Feeling his face grow uncomfortably hot Ceri ducked out of the room as fast as he humanly could.

Leaning against the door as it finally hid him from the hostile glances the trainee took a moment to collect himself and bloody _think._

_Venusian, Venusian, Venusian._ The Boy ran through every mental compilation he had on other species as he started walking down the long corridor. A _ccording to the Encyclopaedia of Solar System NX11857, Venusians are a highly diverse species with several branches due to their evolution and experiments. However, on Earth, the most prominent is the Scout Branch…hmm._

The young, extra-dimensional being flipped through the pages of his mental copy until he found the information he was looking for.

_They can vary in skin and hair colour, so the challenge lies in determining eye colour. Venusians of the Scout Branch tend to have: amber, copper, and metallic gold. In rare cases there are reports of Scouts having grey and black eyes._

_Young Venusians, however, are shorter than the true adults (No shit!) and can also be determined amongst a crowd by their appetite. Adolescents of this species eat copious amounts to maintain body temperature and gain the mass needed for a successful entry to the final development stage._

_So I have to look for a seeming human that has some rare eye colour and eats a lot?_ The Boy groaned at the calculated difficulty of the search and rescue task. _Totally won’t be difficult, not at all!_

After searching through four more rooms he considered hunting down Victor to tell him to go find his apprentice himself. It seemed, however, that the gargantuan Venusian had performed a vanishing act along with Martin leaving him to fend for himself. It was-as Gemma would call it-a _bloody inconvenience._ Well she would say something else but using the adjective bloody was far better than her favourite alternative.

Climbing out his train of thought Ceri scanned the tables, hoping one would have a schedule or a map for the convention centre. With a sigh, the Boy donned a smile as he approached the nearest table and asked one of the smiling humans if they knew the layout.

By the time they were done regaling him the Boy felt like he could’ve asked them for a layout of the entire city and they happily would’ve given him a tour.

_At least now I have a good idea of where to look._ In the conference centre itself there was a room entirely dedicated to a buffet for the attendees while in the entire hotel there were three restaurants. Of those three only two were open at this hour.

Even if the Venusian wasn’t hungry _now_ their metabolism would force them to consume more calories sooner rather later. That left two tricks: first being how likely they were to leave the hotel without their mentor in tow and the second was a question of how long this particular Venusian could last without a significant caloric intake.

The Boy ran several calculations through his mind before slithering through the crowds towards the buffet room.

The Vivarium native thought he knew sterility. He’d grown up in a house where the only things that really changed were its occupants. The clouds never differed in their formations and temperature never wavered from 24 degrees Celsius. The absolute perfection of the Vivarium was a point of pride for his species, but if there was ever a close contender it would be this buffet room.

The walls, ceiling, and floor were all a pale grey while the two dozen tables with their accompanying twelve dozen chairs were all black. Even the food looked disturbingly familiar. However, the humans occupying the seats were in better condition that their experimental counterparts. They laughed at something remarked upon amidst their conversation and even bestowed smiles upon a something by their feet.

His curiousity getting the better of him the Boy moved closer. As he craned his neck to see what it was one of the women quickly took note of him. She tapped the shoulder of the man next to her while whispering something in his ear. Glancing down the Boy realised the man was holding a rope to the creature while off to his right was a cane. The Vivarium representative was just about to remark on the prim quadruped when the man beat to him to it.

“My name’s Alec,” the man announced as he gestured to first to the woman then the brown furred creature. “And this lady here is named Stella and my dog’s Matty. Do you like dogs?”

For a second the Boy thought his head had spun around. Something in his chest felt lighter than normal and for a brief moment he thought he saw Gemma in front of him asking him to play pretend again.

“I…I’ve had very little experience with dogs,” The Boy admitted and was grateful it was almost impossible for him to blush. “I grew up in a strict household.”

_Was that too much information? That was too much…. way too much info._

Alec’s brows furrowed while Stella’s bottom jaw dropped, and then there was the five other people who twisted their utensils with expressions ranging from slight frowns to some form of positive emotion. Alec’s hands reached down to run his fingers through the dog’s long, maroon fur before he came to a decision.

“Would you like to pet him? He’s very well trained.”

“Really?” Before the preternatural trainee knew it, his facial muscles broke free to form a genuine smile. His chest felt… _warm._ Warmer than it should, but it was for a _good_ reason. “I would love to!”

Stella’s shoulder heaved with a sigh of relief as she smiled first at the Boy known as Ceri Ross then at Alec whose lips curled in a smile that was somehow warmer than hers. Before the trainee could allow himself to properly think through all the pros and cons of petting a dog he gradually approached the canine. Sitting half a metre away from Matty the Boy turned to face Alec to mutter his thanks before extending his hand for the dog to sniff.

Contrary to what his parents might think, the animals of this planet were never truly afraid of his species. They’d evolved almost side-by-side with the species of _this_ Earth. The only thing separating them from humans along the way was a handful of extra-dimensions. Then there was the added bonus of having stopped the practice of hunting-okay that part wasn’t entirely true.

Even so, the Boy was glad for his heritage as Matty’s nose hovered over his skin. The dog snorted which tickled the pale hairs on his forearm before giving him a lick which sent a jolt through his version of a spine. Having accepted the extra-dimensional being, Matty got up just enough to flop on his lap startling him.

“Oh! Oh, I just…”

Stella and Alex regarded him with warm smiles before the man piped up. “Matty surprised you didn’t he?”

“Well yes, but…I just never realized that dogs could be this…” _We studied English adjectives for a whole week you can pick the right one! “_ This fluffy!”

Alec’s smile grew even brighter and the Boy found that he was reflecting the expression. He liked these people and he very much liked Matty!

After apparently half an hour of snuggling up to the canine (it felt more like ten seconds to him) the trainee felt more positive about the situation. Before he resumed his search for the wayward Venusian he gathered Stella and Alec’s contact information promising to see them at the next conference if possible.

First things first though: find a hungry, adolescent Venusian and deliver them to their guardian.


	3. Two Aliens in a Restaurant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Boy meets Laoh, his future rival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update this! I got writer's block, but now I'm over it.   
> I hope to be able to update this story every Sunday if the week is going well. If not, then most likely once every two weeks.   
> There's so much going on in this chapter! Lots of talk about the other species in our solar system and more insight into the Boy and what his species is. Sort of. Lots of mystery still.   
> Next chapter takes place after the movie Vivarium and features the Boy as the new Martin. He meets a slightly older Laoh and they discover they are both trying to capture the same couple.

It took the alien 17 minutes to go from the conference room to the first restaurant on his list. It was…what Gemma might call a “nightmare”. Or so he thought, he really wasn’t quite sure.   
The intern had yet to spot Martin or the tall Venusvian man, and it was starting to grate on him. Pretending to be “Ceri” was both easy, yet difficult. It really depended on how closely the humans observed him…and there were a few that seemed remarkably observant. He was grateful to get away from them; one step into the restaurant and the din of the conference was dampened into white noise.   
“Good afternoon, sir!” A peppy voice popped out to his right. The alien half turned to see a woman in a black and white uniform smiling at him. “Will it be just you that will be dining with us?”  
The boy was confused for a moment until the gears in his brain started turning again. This time in memory from his lessons and things he’d picked up from his human…. Adoptive parents.   
This woman is a waitress.   
“No,” he replied. The words slipped easily past his mouth he plotted out how best to find the wayward Venusvian. “Actually, I’ve already got a friend waiting for me inside. May I go?”  
The woman’s brows shot up before a smile was quickly plastered on her face.   
“Of course!”  
The boy inclined his head in thanks before ducking into the main dining space. Almost immediately his nose was assaulted with what seemed like a hundred different aromas. The muscles on his face were contorted in response, and it wasn’t pretty. Judging by the looks he was getting from some of the diners his façade was cracking. Badly.   
I need to get out here once I complete the survey. This is not like the Vivarium! Not. At. All.   
A part of him wanted to flee this example of human tastes, however the more logical part of him recalled that Venusvians had a more human-like palette. While his sense of smell was on the verge of overloading, the Venusvian intern was bound to feel more at home in such an environment.   
“Hello! You must be…. Ceri?” The question threw him off as much as the voice expressing it did. The first word was high pitched, but then the next one had been spoken a couple octaves deeper. Then it swung up again. Like it’s speaker either had no control over it or didn’t care enough to reign the strangeness in.   
The boy turned to see a creature sitting in a booth eating, what appeared to be, a pile of rice with a mix of vegetables. Most of which he’d never seen before.   
So, you’re the Venusvian. You’re Laoh.  
If hadn’t been for the aromatic assault, the boy was certain he would’ve noticed them earlier. Their appearance was utterly bizarre even by the boy’s standards.   
The roots of Laoh’s were a dark orange, but the rest of the strands were a silvery-blond. The eyes looking up at him seemed to tell the same story; the vast majority of the irises were of such a pale silver that-if it weren’t for the gold flakes-it look like they didn’t have any irises at all. The rest of them was a strange combination of characteristics that humans would call masculine and feminine. Like the Venusvian’s body didn’t know what gender it wanted to take.   
The boy’s staring seemed to disturb the adolescent Venusvian because their eating abruptly ceased.   
“What?”  
“Why do you look like that?” The Vivarium native realised he was annoyed by their appearance. If Laoh was trying to blend in it was extraordinarily counterproductive. Do these Venusvians even bother?  
The other alien’s lips turned downward into what he knew was a scowl, while the eyes narrowed into thin white slits.   
“I’m still growing!” The shout prompted every head in the restaurant to shoot up and look around until they pinpointed the source. Realising that the humans there came to the conclusion that he had insulted the seemingly human being, the boy quickly sat down to avoid the stares.   
“We should get going,” the Vivarium-raised boy explained as the other one dug into their food with gusto. “Your…mentor? Victor? He’s looking for you and you are being…. insufficient to your own species’ cause by indulging in food.”  
A deep hissing noise slipped from Laoh’s lips. “That’s not his real name- “  
“I figured that.”  
“His real name, as translated as closely as possible to English, is Viskkamakik the Victorious Scout.”  
“Ah.” The boy’s gaze turned to survey the room. Where were the most inconspicuous exits? And which ones would most likely lead them to their respective mentors?  
So that is where he got the name “Victor” from. Something about the names scratched at him until his head snapped back to Laoh.   
“How did you know about my alias?”  
The silvery eyes widened, and they grabbed their drink quickly to cover them. They sipped on it for what seemed like an entire minute finally coming up with a sufficient response.   
“My mentor told me.”  
“How?” The boy felt his confusion rise up. “You weren’t there and he’d apparently lost tracked of you before we’d shown up.”  
“Pin comms.”  
“Pardon?”  
His question was met with an exasperated sigh. Laoh pointed to their waistcoat which was adorned with four buttons and a chaos star pin. Once he bothered to study the pin, he could’ve slapped himself. Hard.   
It wasn’t actually made out of steel, and the bronze dot in the centre wasn’t actually a gem as he’d assumed. The gleaming centre was a finger press to activate the telecommunication capabilities.   
For a moment the Vivarium trainee’s brain went into shock as he realised he’d been tricked. That Victor hadn’t lost his protégé at all! He’d been led to believe he needed to recover a lost alien and prevent some dilemma l for the suffering, older Scout. Wait… did the Martin know about this?!  
Feeling an ever-curious gaze watching his every motion and passing expression, the boy forced his features into one of indifference.   
“Victor told you he lost me, didn’t he?”  
The boy kept mum, but apparently Laoh knew that meant yes. He found himself wondering how often the older Venusvian pulled this stunt on people.   
“He says he lost me every time he wants to talk to someone alone, and that person is with another. It’s a wild goose chase and rude, I think, but… it works.” The young Venusvian shrugged with a slight smile.   
“Why?”  
“Why what?”  
“Why would your mentor lie just to get someone alone to talk to them?”  
A puzzled expression appeared on the Venusvian’s face then a brow was lifted as they scoffed.   
“Doesn’t your kind do that?”  
The boy froze. Martin’s intern made a calculation and he determined that the other alien was both right and wrong. Or so he thought. If Laoh was referring to the Vivarium and what his species was doing with it, then he understood. But then again, he wasn’t sure just how far the Venusvian’s knowledge went with the civilisation that had created him.   
“Are you pointing to the place where I’m raised?”  
“Hmmm… more or less.” Laoh hummed as they finished the drink. Then, as if on cue, a waiter appeared.   
The man took one look at the plates on the table and smiled broadly.   
“How did you like the masala?”  
“It was wonderful!” Laoh returned the human’s smile with one of their own. How the waiter didn’t seem disturbed by the Venusvian’s physical traits was beyond him. “Could I get a dessert too, please?”  
“Ah, yes! I’ll bring the dessert menu right away.”  
The waiter strolled back to wherever he’d come from and Laoh swiveled to face the even younger alien.   
“What is living inside that tank like? Or can you even tell me?” the Venusvian’s weird eyes seemed to brighten as they smirked. “Afraid that we’ll somehow form one of our own?”  
“It’s a masterpiece of our civilisation.”  
“Thank the Forerunners, that’s it ‘a masterpiece’ and not the masterpiece!”  
The boy felt some part of him rise up, ready to defend his species when the waiter returned with the dessert menu and a warm smile directed towards Laoh. Then he turned towards the one going by Ceri after a double take.   
“Anything for you?”  
“Just tea, please.”  
The waiter frowned. “What kind would you like? We have white, green, black, spiced chai?”  
No spices!   
The Vivarium intern’s mind frantically scrambled for some knowledge on the different types of tea, and which ones he’d most likely be able to handle.   
Just as he began suspecting that the waiter was becoming annoyed, Laoh interrupted them to put in their order and he had more time to figure it out. Once the man turned back, the boy had his answer.   
“I will take the white tea, please.”  
“Very good.”  
The man took the dessert menu back then they were sitting in the booth again with the tiniest moment of silence.   
“Why do you think the Vivarium isn’t the greatest accomplishment in this solar system?”  
Laoh huffed as they raised a brow in apparent disbelief.   
“You haven’t gone out much, have you?” They asked before diving into a lecture. “I will admit it’s impressive. Certainly. A speck of Earth hidden away from the rest by a series of interdimensional folds. But that’s the thing… only your species-as far as I know-is capable of that kind of folding to begin with. Your species evolved in a pinpoint where so many dimensions were woven together. You need that interdimensional environment like a fish needs water, don’t you?”  
The boy didn’t respond. It seemed like a lecture, then he realised Laoh was also fishing for insight. He wouldn’t-couldn’t-give up such information without the explicit permission of the highest ranks of his species. The silence didn’t seem to bother the other alien though, and they continued at a whisper since more humans arrived.   
“The Vivarium is spectacular; I will grant you that. However, there’s so many other accomplishments out there. The cephalopods of Jupiter conquered the wormhole problem 112 years ago. They have territory over a thousand light years away! Then the Martians have their… ohhh what is it called?”  
Laoh’s eyes darted to the ceiling then lowered to the floor before returning to the ceiling. It was a display of confusion he’d seen a couple times on Gemma and Tom’s faces.   
“Ah yes!” The other alien positively beamed as they finally remembered the proper noun. “The XXeshmarahen-9989! The grand terraforming device! Did you know they invented it just a century ago? It produces a powerful gravitational field that’s been used to pull together asteroids to form a planet. It’s only formed small planets so far, but they’re improving.”  
The waiter returned with the dessert and tea effectively cutting off the debate for a moment. However, once the human went his way again, interdimensional alien was intrigued by Laoh’s notable silence on the Venusvians achievements.   
Maybe, it’s because Laoh assumes I already know?   
It was no secret that the Venusvians had left their home solar system thousands of years ago. Once they found another home planet, they begun to rapidly expand their territory until it became a veritable empire.  
If he was recalling the history lessons correctly, the Venusvian Emperor had formed a strange government with over a thousand dedicated heirs. Each one controlling some chunk of space whether an asteroid or an entire solar system. The system had collapsed after several centuries, but that it formed at all was impressive.   
The boy decided he was going to be the one to fish for information this time.   
“What about your people, Laoh?”  
“Hmm.” The other alien scooped up a ball of something covered in spices and syrup. Laoh held it before them like a crystal ball before answering. “We’ve had some advances. Lion’s share was during our imperial era. We’ve long had a terraforming device of our own which we’d wanted to test on our birthplanet. Until our leaders got wind of Earth and what the human race is like. We didn’t want to cause a grand ruckus for… these people. Then we also solved the wormhole problem, albeit after the denizens of Jupiter did, and also long have had an armada of advanced androids…ehhh. We’ve all had advances.”  
The Vivarium intern allowed himself to scowl at the response. However, the boy allowed silence to reign supreme as Laoh devoured dessert and he drank his mild tea. 

Later, after the bill was paid, Laoh and the boy going by an alias returned to their respective mentors. They found the two older aliens playing a game of kadigif and Victor was winning by a narrow margin.   
As the sun dipped closer to the horizon, they parted ways. The boy watched as the incredibly tall Venusvian shortened his pace so that Laoh would be able to be alongside him without running. It was a considerate gesture, and something about seemed parental.   
A nudge from Martin had him returning to the car with his own teacher. His thoughts ran over each other as he wondered if Gemma would show him the same consideration. Or was their trial going to fail and he would become the next Martin and lure in more families until his own time came?   
Strange thoughts for the alien called C-6675 by his teachers at the Academy, but he wouldn’t have prevented them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments, and questions are always appreciated! They help me keep the writer's block at bay :)


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